Emotional Intelligence and the Learning Organization: the Emotional Intelligence of the School Principal and the School As a Learning Organization

The contemporary focus on improving America?s public schools has in no small measure been a focus on improving the quality of school leadership. With the competing demands placed upon the school principal, how is he or she best able to manage daily challenges while fostering an environment of ongoing learning and continuous improvement? A higher degree of emotional intelligence has been found to be a determinant of effective leadership. Moreover, the qualities of the individual with a high degree of emotional intelligence can encourage the environmental conditions congruent with the practices of a learning organization. This work explores the intersection of emotional intelligence and the learning organization within the context of the contemporary public school. Focusing on the emotional intelligence of school leaders can have positive effects on the capacity of a school to shape itself into an organization that places the development and communication of new knowledge at the forefront of its working life.